Well that was terrible.
As the coach said, they played like they were two and a half months ago. It was a parade of mistakes that undermined everything they did almost the entire night. The Oilers kept the game pretty even last night in terms of possession but boneheaded moves broke the game wide open for the Ducks at every possible turn.
It’s easy to forget but the Oilers had started the game off on the right track. The club dominated the first two shifts, spending them almost entirely in the Ducks’ end. The shots were 4-0 Edmonton almost 4 minutes into the game.
The Oilers come out, with possession, they fail to make sure the puck goes deep then immediately peel off for a line change. Gazdic’s entire line bails on the play which invariably ends up moving back the other way and Nuge ends up on the ice long enough to pick up one of those wonderful minuses that people still use for reasons that are unknown to me.
Or, Pouliot sends the puck back around the boards where Justin Schultz picks it up completely unmolested by the forechecker and he proceeds to make a soft as butter play on the puck. The turnover is critical because all the forwards were moving up the ice for the breakout that should have occurred 99 out of 100 times. There was nobody around to bail Schultz out of his mistake.
Then there’s the Perry goal. And there’s yet another defensive change with the puck still in the neutral zone. Taylor Hall tries to get in the way of Corey Perry and when he looks behind him, nobody is there. Perry temporarily loses control of the puck but without A FREAKING DEFENSEMAN THERE TO STOP HIM, he just regains possession and comes in for point 600 on his career.
The Oilers better reel in their focus for tonight’s game because another ridiculous effort like the one they showed yesterday will be unbearable on just 24 hour turnaround. The final segment of the season against only Pacific Division opponents was supposed to be a series of big tests. They bombed the 1st one.
Todd Nelson’s future with the club hangs in the balance and even though the Oilers aren’t supposed to win against most of these teams, they are still supposed to be halfway competitive. A much as everybody is getting behind Nelson, the team still hasn’t made a commitment one way or the other. I think they would be foolish to overlook this coaching candidate again, but if a more famous coaching choice becomes available I think MacT would jump at it.
If the guys like playing under Todd Nelson they need to fix all those lazy or soft mistakes and start playing a more mature game.
LANDER
Anton Lander signed a 2 year contract extension today which is fantastic for the Oilers. The dollar amount hasn't been divulged yet but soon it will come out. Lander was on waivers at one point this season and looked completely lost in Training Camp. Todd Nelson has revived this guy's career from the brink of death. His emergence means everything for a club whose depth down the middle was wafer thin. I might have more on this as more details emerge.
Updated: As per Mark Spector the Cap Hit for those 2 years will be 985K. This is a virtually risk-free scenario for Edmonton.
LINEUP
Yesterday both Gordon and Hendricks hit the ice but never made it into the game. I think Hendricks is a lock to play but Gordon maybe less so. I’m going to assume that Fraser comes out for Hendricks but keep Gordon off my lineup unless something gets announced. As sad and pathetic as that effort was last night, I don’t see how any other roster changes are even possible. We’re working without a safety net here.
Pouliot RNH Eberle Purcell Roy Yakupov Hall Lander Miller Gazdic Hendricks Klinkhammer
Klefbom Schultz Marincin Nikitin Aulie Davidson
Scrivens
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Marincin/Nikitin 2: Judgment Day. There are a faction of people who are rather upset that Nikita Nikitin was the player with the most ice time in yesterday’s game. Now I have been highly critical of Nikitin but it’s only fair that I credit him when he plays a good game. In this case I think he played a pretty good game but in actuality I thought Marincin was stronger all game. So as a unit they played pretty well whereas Klefbom was playing pretty well but Schultz was crumbling under the boos that the Anaheim faithful were raining down on him. Marincin and Nikitin finished the night 1 and 2 in possession with 65 and 64 percent in shot attempt ratio. They got ice because the puck was heading the right way all night when they were playing.
2) Reset. I’ve always been slightly annoyed at the idea that teams need to “forget… about bad games and move on. That’s garbage. Don’t forget it at all. Look at it, figure out why it was bad, then correct the mistakes. Obviously Justin Schultz shouldn’t spend the night sobbing into his pillow because he made an error on the 2nd goal, but the next time he makes a play for the puck he should remember that losing focus even for a second can make a routine play result in a goal against at any time. Luke Gazdic should remember that brutal line change that lead to a goal against the next time he needs to change but doesn’t get the puck deep. So I wont say that they need to forget but they need to reset and start playing the right way again.
3) Standing In The Way. The Kings are 2 points out of the Playoffs and play Edmonton twice. Losing either game against the Oilers could be the difference between making the Playoffs and booking Tee Times at the same time as Keith Aulie and Teddy Purcell. The 2 games against them will be as close to the Playoffs as Edmonton will have experienced in almost a decade. If Edmonton is expecting anything less than the ferocity of a cornered, wild animal then they are delusional. Edmonton can play the role of spoiler by taking points away from the Kings but it isn’t going to be easy.
Puck drops tonight at 8:38 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Tank On!
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